By Jamie Wachter / Sports Editor
The Meridian Star
MERIDIAN —
Clarkdale coach Jud Gartman joked he has spent the past week scouring for a quarterback.
In reality, though, the Bulldogs’ head man is just hoping to find a remedy for the injury bug that inflicted Clarkdale in last week’s 42-15 loss at Union. First, junior quarterback Micah Redmond was hurt late in the second quarter, breaking his lower left leg on a drive-extending run.
Later, Redmond’s replacement at safety, freshman Kylan Mabry went down himself, suffering a broken arm.
“We’ve got to put someone else in there,” Gartman said. “There was a cloud over us Friday night. We’ve just got to move some folks around.
“For sure, we’ve got to shake the injury bug.”
One of those Bulldogs shuffling along is junior Gabe Shelby. A former starter at the slot position, Shelby now shifts to quarterback. In last week’s defeat, Shelby completed 8 of 12 passes for 43 yards and one touchdown, which came three plays after Redmond’s injury and gave the Bulldogs a short-lived lead. Corey Skinner leads Clarkdale’s offense with 230 rushing yards on 34 carries, while Kadera Beason has added 111 yards on 23 carries.
“(Shelby) is our No. 2, but he had been playing a lot,” Gartman added. “It just shocked us. (Redmond) was one of our main guys. They’re all friends and stuff. We’ve got a quarterback, he’s OK. He wants to play.
“He’s big. He’s strong. Has a strong arm and he’s eager to play it. I think the guys have rallied around him a lot, they know what’s at stake and they know he’s the last one we’ve got.”
Once the Bulldogs, who are 1-2, move past the injuries comes the concerns presented by Lake. One season after suffering through a winless campaign, the Hornets not only grabbed a season-opening win but battled Enterprise tightly last week before succumbing for a 34-18 loss. A week prior, Clarkdale rallied back from a 27-0 hole to fall 27-20 to Enterprise.
“They are much improved,” Gartman said. “I talked to (Enterprise) coach (Joel) Speed and he said they could have beat ’em. He said they’re much improved and have a lot of athletes.
“They’ve got some real good skill guys.”
The Hornets are 1-1.
